Archive - 2010

Avid Pens fan Matt Abel, of Washington, PA, won the Winter Classic Ultimate Fan Experience, a fundraiser for the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation.

The 500th survivor of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Arizona may be one of the most significant advances for the University of Arizona’s Resuscitation Research Group and the Save Hearts in Arizona Registry & Education (SHARE) Program during 2010.

Happy Holidays to everyone.  It is always a great feeling to spend the holidays with my family especially after surviving a cardiac arrest.  Best wishes!

Tabitha McGlaughlin of Gettyburg, Penn., was the lucky winner of an AED donated by Cardiac Science to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, during the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Update, a biennial conference of the Citizen CPR Foundation. Survivor Paul Moore and his wife Thelma drew Tabitha's business card from those collected at the Foundation's exhibit booth.

From left: Jennifer Bassett, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation; Mark Hermes, Cardiac Science; Tabitha McGlaughlin; Thelma and Paul Moore; Mary Newman, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation

There are numerous smartphone and mobile computing device downloadable applications (apps) openly available for CPR instruction, real-time coaching. However, a scientific interdisciplinary approach to the development of an accessible, user-friendly, widely disseminated, and effective app is limited. 

A global interdisciplinary international team of experts in emergency care, public health, media technology, interface design, and human factors conducted a review of 22 English language apps identified a number of beneficial characteristics including:

Jordan Scott of St. John’s, Newfoundland, was named recipient of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation’s People Saving People Award, for saving the life of his brother, Joel, when he suffered sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) near Veracruz, Mexico. The award, which also recognized Esprit Whitewater crew members, was presented during the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Update, a biennial conference of the Citizen CPR Foundation.

I was very excited to be invited to help the Tacoma Fire Department put on their CPR Sunday. It took place on 10/10/10 and is held once a year, Volunteer firefighters and EMTs teach CPR classes. This year was the largest day they ever had...more than 850 people learned CPR. I was able to tell my SCA survivor story before each class.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivors Help Focus Attention on Thousands of Needless and Preventable Deaths Each Year

LOS ANGELES--Xavier Jones ran across the middle of the basketball court, ready to receive a pass from a La Verne Lutheran High School teammate.

He first stumbled, then stopped, and finally keeled over motionless on the hardwood. His heart had stopped beating.

MINNEAPOLIS--Dale Wakasugi, a high school basketball referee, collapsed with cardiac arrest in the middle of a girls’ high school basketball game between Rosemount and Blaine Friday night. The first time he suffered cardiac arrest during a game was in December 2007. In the first instance, people responded quickly with CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) and shocked his heart.

Surgeons then inserted an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) inside his chest to prevent sudden death in the event SCA should occur again. On Friday night, he collapsed in full cardiac arrest and the internal device shocked his heart back into a normal rhythm, saving his life.